Author
Topic: What small things did you do TODAY to save money? (Read 5313380 times)

-Free car charging, breakfast & lunch at work -Repurposing leftovers for dinner-Tomorrow, using a gift card (gift from an employer) to treat myself to a 90 minute massage at a fancy pants spa for my birthday. SO excited!

I realized that I could return $255 in parts I bought to repair my car (which incidentally just proved I had a different problem) and spend less than that to completely replace the problematic system with a modern version.

For the gearheads, converting an early 90's igniter/coil/wires setup to coil on plug. $50 for four coils, $10 for four connectors, $8 for ECU wiring pigtails, $70 tach adapter, ~$50 in wire (buying way more than I need because I have other uses for it), and $11 in crimp connectors (I already have wire loom/tape/etc to build the harness). $109 vs $255, and a superior solution anyway!

-Husband is doing a minor (for him) repair for the neighbor, but it requires a $250 part. We ordered it on our amazon card, so we'll get the rewards points (5%). Plus, neighbor usually throws in a bottle of something tasty as a thanks. Today he sent husband home with Halibut, King Salmon, and venison jerky. Not a bad deal for a short period of work for hubby and good neighbor relations. -$1.99/lb asparagus. We got 3 massive bundles. I'm going to gorge myself silly, like I do every time it goes on sale. (Already ate 1 whole bundle)-Talked about the supplements my RE has me on to my acupuncturist. She signed me up through a subscriber web portal she has. I'll be able to get all my stuff for 15% off now.

I spent a few hours in court today (for work). I had my first cup of coffee while still in the office, then I went to the courthouse and drank coffee from the free vending machine there. It's not just free, it's a really fancy machine that offers 5 types of coffee in 3 different strenghts and 3 types of hot chocolate and there's a water cooler as well. I really don't get why everyone walks in carrying cups of take-out coffee.

- I'm trying to use up some ingredients in my pantry and fridge so I made hummus, granola and bagels. - no Starbucks so far in February!- I ran out of my regular coffee at home but remembered I had 4 bags in the pantry that I bought for $2 a bag. It's not as good as my favorite brand but it's ok and I'm going to drink it until it's gone.- I have had a cup of tea every afternoon because I have sooo much in my pantry

-Used gift card for fancy pants spa/massage. May have gone anyway, as it's my favorite birthday treat, but free was the best way!-Avoided ordering lunch or picking anything up on the way out, and had soup from the freezer for a late lunch when I got home. -Drove electric car for errands not in walking distance-Ate leftover naan pizza for breakfast this morning.

We brought a one year gym membership for both of us this year. We've been going often so thrilled to calculate that each session costs about $2. Full price aqua aerobics is $12 so, for us, the upfront cost has been justified. Also, feeling much stronger and more flexible.

Took my 12 year old son on "a day of adventure" instead of our usual froyo or bakery visit. We went to a state park we had never visited that is a 1.5 hour drive away (we have an annual state park pass, so no day use fee). I packed plenty of snacks and a lunch. We went on a long hike, explored the remains of a 100 year old homestead (the old dumping grounds were the most interesting find!), and had 3 hours in the car where we had long and interesting talks about everything from the nature of hydrogen bonds to his worries about moving, and on to his emerging change of heart about girls. Well worth the small amount of gas the Prius used for the adventure!

Best part? At bed time yesterday I got a huge hug and a request to do Friday adventures as a thing instead of Friday sweet treat dates. The cost may even out with gas factored in, but the value for money spent will be much higher, which I say is a money saving victory! :D

I went to an event today, where the entry fee is sponsored for me by the club. I only needed to buy my own train tickets, but I bought a weekly ticket that DH can use the rest of the week to work. I received free lunch and free tea and cake. I did not spend 1800 or 2500 USD on a microscope that was sold there. (One of my facebook friends there ordered two, because it was nice to use for his kids...).I did however order a brand new not-commercial book about the subject, but it was a cheap book (20 USD) compared to many alternatives on the market.

I did join people there for drinking beer in the city later at night. Went home and made dinner from what was in the house.

I walked to and from the train station, about 2 km each way, with a very steep uphill home.

Closed my Chase Sapphire card to avoid the $450 annual fee coming up next month. Made sure to cash out the few remaining points and bought a Marriott gift card with the remainder of my unused travel spend.

Applied and accepted for the American Express Blue Cash card for my next CC hack.

- Wandered along my favourite shopping street in the sunshine, and didn't go in anywhere (window shopping is just as good!)- Decided to take a book out from the library rather than buy it- Didn't buy some DIY beauty things I've been eyeing, since I don't have firm applications yet and might buy too much/never use them

-Bought an incredible squat rack for our home gym for $80. Old, but very solid steel and good welds. Very, very heavy, haha. Unloading it was an adventure, but we got it done!-Did lots of youtube time and a couple articles and pruned my own japanese maple. It was neglected by the previous owner, and I was honestly a little terrified to do it! I had no idea how easy the dead wood is to identify until I started. Not sure how much I saved over hiring it out, but I'm sure it was a chunk! -Hitting valentine's sales for cheap delicious fruits and veg that are normally spendy- asparagus and fresh strawberries. Also did a big dark chocolate stock up last week. -Been roasting our own almonds and trying different spices etc for tasty work treats. Our favorite so far has been shoyu+sesame oil. -Going to use some very mushy bananas for 2 ingredient cookies =)

I did again travel back and forth to the city with the already purchased weekly ticket. Walked to and from the train station. Got free lunch at the event, free drinks and cookies. I did not buy lottery tickets to win stuff I didn't need. Received two free reflexes. On the way back, I really wanted to buy loose candy in the shop at the train station, where I have bought this all too often for many years when I worked in the city. But they have stopped selling candy in loose form. Good for me and I didn't buy a packed replacement.I looked at the magazines, as I have next week off. But I didn't buy a magazine. I guess I could rather read one of my Kindle books. I ate a leftover from the freezer for dinner. But I aplurged on opening a bottle of (reasonably priced, but quite good) German Riesling.Yesterday I hung the laundry up to dry on a rack in the bathroom.

- I worked both days this weekend and brought all my coffee and food from home. I noticed today how many of my coworkers were carrying a Starbucks coffee cup!- My husband took the boys to a Cub Scout event while I worked and they got free pizza for lunch and a pie to bring home which we are all having for lunch today. - I made my menu plan for the week based on what we have in the house. We are going on vacation in 8 days so it will be good to empty out the refrigerator and freezer. - Made more homemade hummus.

I made homemade yogurt. Used almost a full 64 oz container of milk. I had to buy some yogurt as a starter so that cost me more than it should but it will get used. I made it in the Instant Pot and it came out fantastic. My first try and I am hooked because I hate the price of Greek yogurt! So, now that I know how to make it, I will be able to eat more yogurt at a reasonable price. Today the Hub made poached chicken breasts. They will get sliced up for sammies and some will go in the freezer. I also have an enchilada recipe and a chicken corn chowder I want to make. Will get a lot of use out of them. I will also make a yogurt pie. It requires about 16 oz of yogurt, Cool Whip and sweetened fruit mixed together then put into a graham cracker crust. Then freeze. Easy and delish! Oh, forgot, the broth used to poach the chicken can be used to make a few cups of chicken soup. It was flavored with some herbs, lemon and ginger root. So much food, so little time to eat it!

- Had to stock up my new kitchen, drove to the discount grocery store and got all the deals. - Went to a local fruit/meat market and got aspergus for .77$/lb!! YASS. - Kept the house at 15-18 deg all weekend. - Did a mega cooking day to prevent any take out purchases for the next...forever.

I'm at my parents for 4 days, so no grocery spendMet up with hometown friends with only non-spend activities. Went for a walk with one and just chilled at home with some drinks (non alcohol in my case) with the others. Two of the girls went to a bar later, I decided to just head home.

-Used newspapers to clean mirrors throughout the house-We are finally generating solar power! Not a small thing at all, but now that we're seeing how the solar generation works, we will adjust our energy usage accordingly. So excited!-Ran all errands in our electric car-Sent money for snacks/admission to an event with the kids. Didn't realize it was actually a birthday party, and the mom of birthday boy paid for everything. $40 back.-Found a few new items to list on eBay/FB swap-Sold an item on eBay for $2. Raking it in. ;-)-Ate leftover soup for lunch, plus remaining part of birthday cookie as my reward for cleaning the house

-Used a gift card we got for switching ISPs. Used it at a store where we don't get CC rewards beyond 1%. Better then getting lost in a drawer, or going to groceries where we can get 6%! -Saving our old ink cartridge, going to try getting it refilled. -Used Buy Nothing free pots to plant a free plant cutting for another house plant. Already owned the potting soil. -As always, Sunday is batch cooking and weekday meal prep.

For those playing at home, this doesn't work with newspapers that still use petroleum-based ink.

I've never encountered any that don't work. I don't think it's an issue in the US, but others should correct me if they've had trouble. I've used the Trader Joe's flyer, our local free weekly newspaper, ads, etc.

I made homemade yogurt. Used almost a full 64 oz container of milk. I had to buy some yogurt as a starter so that cost me more than it should but it will get used. I made it in the Instant Pot and it came out fantastic. My first try and I am hooked because I hate the price of Greek yogurt! So, now that I know how to make it, I will be able to eat more yogurt at a reasonable price. Today the Hub made poached chicken breasts. They will get sliced up for sammies and some will go in the freezer. I also have an enchilada recipe and a chicken corn chowder I want to make. Will get a lot of use out of them. I will also make a yogurt pie. It requires about 16 oz of yogurt, Cool Whip and sweetened fruit mixed together then put into a graham cracker crust. Then freeze. Easy and delish! Oh, forgot, the broth used to poach the chicken can be used to make a few cups of chicken soup. It was flavored with some herbs, lemon and ginger root. So much food, so little time to eat it!

OK, that did it, I am now seriously considering the Instant Pot. The seal on our pressure cooker is no longer working that well, this would be both a replacement and a nice addition. I know it works as a rice cooker too, something which I've never mastered - I just throw a couple of handfuls of good brown rice in the soup or use instant seasoned packages occasionally. It will be fun to try out some new recipes too.

Fixed a big casserole on Friday, there is enough left for Mr. R's lunch tomorrow.Yesterday we brought home some goodies from a birthday party plus I'd made Mexican style Velveeta and a can of Rotel in my mini crockpot, which we ended up having with the best shredded potato rolls instead of corn chips - really good:)

Our washer finally died today. Mr. R. fixed the board a couple of times already and also rigged up some things (the plastic pieces holding in the board crumbled) with what else? duct tape:) which enabled us to use the washer three years longer. It's been a great washer for 15 years.So now I'm scouring the Internet for deals at our local Sears Outlet, good washers are pricey and I like the front loading ones. Tomorrow I'll check a couple stores for floor models etc, check some apps and maybe Craig's list.

For those playing at home, this doesn't work with newspapers that still use petroleum-based ink.

I've never encountered any that don't work. I don't think it's an issue in the US, but others should correct me if they've had trouble. I've used the Trader Joe's flyer, our local free weekly newspaper, ads, etc.

we did the newspaper thing on our windows/mirrors for awhile. microfiber towels are much better.

For those playing at home, this doesn't work with newspapers that still use petroleum-based ink.

I've never encountered any that don't work. I don't think it's an issue in the US, but others should correct me if they've had trouble. I've used the Trader Joe's flyer, our local free weekly newspaper, ads, etc.

we did the newspaper thing on our windows/mirrors for awhile. microfiber towels are much better.

I've tried microfiber towels, but I find they often leave fuzz, whereas newspapers leave no residue or film/fuzz

I made homemade yogurt. Used almost a full 64 oz container of milk. I had to buy some yogurt as a starter so that cost me more than it should but it will get used. I made it in the Instant Pot and it came out fantastic. My first try and I am hooked because I hate the price of Greek yogurt! So, now that I know how to make it, I will be able to eat more yogurt at a reasonable price. Today the Hub made poached chicken breasts. They will get sliced up for sammies and some will go in the freezer. I also have an enchilada recipe and a chicken corn chowder I want to make. Will get a lot of use out of them. I will also make a yogurt pie. It requires about 16 oz of yogurt, Cool Whip and sweetened fruit mixed together then put into a graham cracker crust. Then freeze. Easy and delish! Oh, forgot, the broth used to poach the chicken can be used to make a few cups of chicken soup. It was flavored with some herbs, lemon and ginger root. So much food, so little time to eat it!

If you want GOOD instructions for making yogurt, go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtXnaP17D4Q Take the time to watch the video then go back and write every detail in a list format. I did that and was easy to follow rather than the Instant Pot book. The one thing I did not do was to cool the jars in water. I was afraid they would crack so I used the alternative method of just letting them cool on a towel, on the counter. The only drawback to all of this is that you have to bring the IP up to pressure which seems to take around 20 minutes then steam the milk for 1 minute. The cool down process takes maybe 40 minutes. When you add the jars back to the cooker, the yogurt program takes 8 hours. Easy but takes time. I was putting the jars in the fridge at 11 pm. Good luck!

OK, that did it, I am now seriously considering the Instant Pot. The seal on our pressure cooker is no longer working that well, this would be both a replacement and a nice addition. I know it works as a rice cooker too, something which I've never mastered - I just throw a couple of handfuls of good brown rice in the soup or use instant seasoned packages occasionally. It will be fun to try out some new recipes too.

Fixed a big casserole on Friday, there is enough left for Mr. R's lunch tomorrow.Yesterday we brought home some goodies from a birthday party plus I'd made Mexican style Velveeta and a can of Rotel in my mini crockpot, which we ended up having with the best shredded potato rolls instead of corn chips - really good:)

Our washer finally died today. Mr. R. fixed the board a couple of times already and also rigged up some things (the plastic pieces holding in the board crumbled) with what else? duct tape:) which enabled us to use the washer three years longer. It's been a great washer for 15 years.So now I'm scouring the Internet for deals at our local Sears Outlet, good washers are pricey and I like the front loading ones. Tomorrow I'll check a couple stores for floor models etc, check some apps and maybe Craig's list.

Went to a thrift outlet store on $10 cart day and got the military discount. $9.54 with tax, grocery cart full of stuff to sell on eBay and Craigslist. Should generate $300 or so in sales.

Husband brought back a crap ton of food from work. It'd get thrown out otherwise. 5 lbs of ground beef, in package, uncooked. Probably a quart each of cooked taco meat and Spanish rice. 6 cucumbers. We'll eat / freeze all this.

Also got some groceries off my Buy Nothing group, which until recently has been quite useless. Two packages of Brie cheese, some whole wheat spaghetti, a spaghetti squash. In this poor neighborhood, I'm thinking this is food pantry box cast-offs. Too fancy ; ) I'll take it!

Instead of driving a car through the heavy snow chaos, I took the train to the dentist, using DH's weekly train ticket that was in my wallet. I walked the 2 km each way to the train station.

The dentist said my teeth were very strong and in excellent condition. The tiny starting hole that I have had not grown bigger than it was a year ago. So I can wait for a year for the new appointment.

I bought some veggies, loose tea and spices at a "foreigner" shop, which is a grocery shop that is not in the normal chains. They usually sell spices in bigger quantities for a more reasonable price. For veggies they have a better choice.

My small thing is that when I got home to find a fire engine in my driveway, firies in my building and a minor flood in my unit, I pegged the drenched linen to dry rather than throwing it in the dryer.

My small thing is that when I got home to find a fire engine in my driveway, firies in my building and a minor flood in my unit, I pegged the drenched linen to dry rather than throwing it in the dryer.

My small thing is that when I got home to find a fire engine in my driveway, firies in my building and a minor flood in my unit, I pegged the drenched linen to dry rather than throwing it in the dryer.

(Apart from that, Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?)

You always said you liked the sound of rain :)

Having it indoors was probably not what you had in mind?

Funny boy. :)

Iíve done what I can tonight, cleaned up the water, moved and covered furniture, and drilled drainage holes in the gyprock to prevent the ceiling collapsing.

From here I predict an argument between my landlord, their insurance company, my insurance company, strata, and the tenant responsible. Fun times.

My small thing is that when I got home to find a fire engine in my driveway, firies in my building and a minor flood in my unit, I pegged the drenched linen to dry rather than throwing it in the dryer.

(Apart from that, Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?)

You always said you liked the sound of rain :)

Having it indoors was probably not what you had in mind?

Funny boy. :)

Iíve done what I can tonight, cleaned up the water, moved and covered furniture, and drilled drainage holes in the gyprock to prevent the ceiling collapsing.

From here I predict an argument between my landlord, their insurance company, my insurance company, strata, and the tenant responsible. Fun times.

I'm sure you know this, but take lots and lots of pictures! That way there's no debate about what was and wasn't damaged.

My small thing is that when I got home to find a fire engine in my driveway, firies in my building and a minor flood in my unit, I pegged the drenched linen to dry rather than throwing it in the dryer.

(Apart from that, Mrs Lincoln, how was the play?)

Miserable. So sorry to hear that happened. Hope the cleanup as well as the resolution are as quick & painless as possible

* Went to Whole Foods today for lunch and wandered around the outdoor dining area picking up rubber bands that people discard off their salads and sushi. I use them to keep my sons’ LunchBots containers sealed shut and they don’t always come home. Picked up about 20 off the ground which should keep me stocked for a while.